The Morgan Silver Dollar has become the number one silver coin collected by numismatist. The reason? It was produced in large numbers, it’s 90% silver and large, and the design is considered one of the most desirable of all US Coins.

What many collectors of Morgan Dollar might not realize is that the Morgan Head design was also proposed for dimes, quarters and half dollars, but with alternate reverses. However, none of these designs where accepted, and it begs the question. Why not?

There’s much speculation, but it all boils down to the fickle public, the mint attempting to produce coins the public would not think “ugly”, and that they would actually use the coins in transactions. Because the Morgan Dollar never say much circulation accept out West, in their casinos.

Now, people pay high premiums just to obtain Morgan Dollars, and they pay even higher premiums for the Morgan denominations that never where, and these are called patterns. To see these patters visit this link Morgan Patterns here you will see full color photos of the patterns, their values and important information about these coins.

Note: Not all of the Morgan patterns where made of silver.

The US Mint begin minting the Roosevelt Dime design in 1946 in honor of the only four term US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, replacing the popular Liberty Head or commonly called ‘Mercury Dime’ that was minted from 1916-1945. And even though Franklin D. Roosevelt was a one of the most respected and honored US Presidents, the dime commemorating his Presidency and accomplishments, has become a less popular coin since the US Mint began producing the dime.

It’s understandable when you consider the design is not exciting and boast mintages in the millions and sometimes billions, and barely captures the life, accomplishments and allure of Franklin Roosevelt himself. Being nothing more than a side-profile portrait on the obverse and a torch flanked by olive and oak branches on the reverse. It seems the Roosevelt Dimes from 1946-1964 are destined for the junk silver designation of lots and rolls, and the clad of 1965-2008 as nothing more than a way to make change in every day transactions.

However, such is not always the case because Roosevelt Dimes do have a chance of becoming valuable and some already are. A select few Roosevelt Dime dates have low mintages and have a chance of gaining a premium in the coming years, and this should not be a surprise to experienced collectors.

In example, a 1998-P ‘raw’ Roosevelt Dime, multiple strike, bonding two coins, mint error, sold recently for $1,700 by Superior Galleries at ebay, and many high grade (MS68), Full Torch examples trade for premiums in the the hundreds of dollars. Also, don’t forget the values for Cameo and Deep Cameo silver proofs and Special Mint Set (SMS) examples, graded so by the top tier companies like PCGS, that trade for hundreds to even thousands of dollars! Read more